Asimov’s Future History Volume 16 Read online

  “Thank you, Chief Librarian,” said Seldon as he settled into a chair and faced Acarnio across the vast desk. “May I introduce my granddaughter Wanda and my friend Stettin Palver. Wanda is a most valuable member of the Psychohistory Project, her specialty being in the field of mathematics. And Stettin, well, Stettin is turning into a first-rate general psychohistorian–when he’s not performing his duties as my bodyguard, that is.” Seldon chuckled amiably.

  “Yes, well, that’s all well and good, Professor,” said Acarnio, baffled by Seldon’s good humor. He had expected the professor to come in groveling, begging for another chance at special Library privileges.

  “But I don’t understand what it is you wanted to see me about. I assume you realize that our position is firm: We cannot allow a Library association with someone so extremely unpopular with the general population. We are, after all, a public library and we must keep the public’s sentiments in mind.” Acarnio settled back–perhaps now the groveling would begin.

  “I realize that I have not been able to sway you. However, I thought that if you heard from a couple of the Project’s younger members–the psychohistorians of tomorrow, as it were–that perhaps you’d get a better feel about what a vital role the Project–and the Encyclopedia, in particular–will play in our future. Please hear Wanda and Stettin out.”

  Acarnio cast a cold eye toward the two young people flanking Seldon. “Very well, then,” he said, pointedly eyeing the timestrip on the wall. “Five minutes and no more. I have a Library to run.”

  “Chief Librarian,” began Wanda, “as my grandfather has undoubtedly explained to you, psychohistory is a most valuable tool to be used for the preservation of our culture. Yes, preservation,” she repeated, upon seeing Acarnio’s eyes widen at the word. “Undue emphasis has been placed on the destruction of the Empire. By doing so, the true value of psychohistory has been overlooked. For, with psychohistory, as we are able to predict the inevitable decline of our civilization, so are we able to take steps toward its preservation. That is what the Encyclopedia Galactica is all about. And that is why we need your help, and the help of your great Library.”

  Acarnio could not resist smiling. The young lady had an undeniable charm. She was so earnest, so well spoken. He gazed at her sitting in front of him, her blond hair pulled back in a rather severe scholarly style, one which could not hide her attractive features but, rather, showed them off. What she was saying was starting to make sense. Maybe Wanda Seldon was right–maybe he had been looking at this problem from the wrong angle. If it were actually a matter of preservation, rather than destruction...

  “Chief Librarian,” began Stettin Palver, “this great Library has stood for millennia. It, perhaps even more than the Imperial Palace, represents the vast power of the Empire. For, the Palace houses only the Empire’s leader, while the Library is home to the sum total of Imperial knowledge, culture, and history. Its value is incalculable.

  “Does it not make sense to prepare a tribute to this great repository? The Encyclopedia Galactica will be just that–a giant summary of all the knowledge contained within these very walls. Think of it!”

  All of a sudden it seemed so very clear to Acarnio. How could he have let the Board (especially that sourpuss Gennaro Mummery) convince him to rescind Seldon’s privileges? Las Zenow, a person whose judgment he greatly esteemed, had been a wholehearted supporter of Seldon’s Encyclopedia.

  He glanced again at the three in front of him, waiting for his decision. The Board would be hard-pressed to find anything to complain about with the Project members–if the young people now in his office were a representative sample of the kind of persons involved with Seldon.

  Acarnio rose and walked across his office, his brow furrowed, as if framing his thoughts. He picked up a milky crystal sphere from a table and hefted it in his palm.

  “Trantor,” Acarnio began thoughtfully, “seat of the Empire, center of all the Galaxy. Quite amazing, when you think of it.–We have, perhaps, been too quick to judge Professor Seldon. Now that your Project, this Encyclopedia Galactica, has been presented to me in such a light”–he gave a brief nod to Wanda and Palver–” I realize how important it would be to allow you to continue your work here. And, of course, to grant access to a number of your colleagues.”

  Seldon smiled gratefully and squeezed Wanda’s hand.

  “It is not only for the greater glory of the Empire that I am recommending this,” continued Acarnio, apparently warming to the idea (and the sound of his own voice). “You are famous, Professor Seldon. Whether people think of you as a crackpot or a genius, everyone seems to have an opinion. If an academic of your stature is allied with the Galactic Library, it can only increase our prestige as a bastion of intellectual pursuit of the highest order. Why, the luster of your presence can be used to raise much-needed funds to update our collections, increase our staff, keep our doors open to the public longer...

  “And the prospect of the Encyclopedia Galactica itself-what a monumental project! Imagine the reaction when the public learns that the Galactic Library is involved with such an undertaking designed to highlight the splendor of our civilization–our glorious history, our brilliant achievements, our magnificent cultures. And to think that I, Chief Librarian Tryma Acarnio, is responsible for making sure that this great Project gets its start–” Acarnio gazed intently into the crystal sphere, lost in reverie.

  “Yes, Professor Seldon,” Acarnio pulled himself back to the here and now. “You and your colleagues will be granted full insiders’ privileges–and a suite of offices in which to work.” He placed the crystal sphere back on its table and, with a swish of robes, moved back to his desk.

  “It might take a little doing, of course, to persuade the Board–but I am confident that I can handle them. Just leave it to me.”

  Seldon, Wanda, and Palver looked at each other in triumph, with small smiles playing at the corner of their mouths. Tryma Acarnio gestured that they could go and so they did, leaving the Chief Librarian settled in his chair, dreaming of the glory and honor that would come to the Library under his aegis.

  “Amazing,” said Seldon when the three were safely ensconced in their ground-car. “If you could have seen him at our last meeting. He said I was ‘threatening the essential fabric of our Empire’ or some such rot. And today, after just a few minutes with you two–”

  “It wasn’t too hard, Grandpa,” Wanda said as she pressed a contact, moving the ground-car out into traffic. She sat back as the auto-propel took over; Wanda had punched their destination coordinates into the control panel. “He is a man with a strong sense of self-importance. All we had to do was play up the positive aspects of the Encyclopedia and his ego took over from there.”

  “He was a goner the minute Wanda and I walked in,” Palver said from the back. “With both of us pushing him, it was a piece of cake.” Palver reached forward and squeezed Wanda’s shoulder affectionately. She smiled, reached up, and patted his hand.

  “I must alert the Encyclopedists as soon as possible,” Seldon said. “Although there are only thirty-two left, they are good and dedicated workers. I’ll get them installed at the Library and then I’ll tackle the next hurdle–credits. Perhaps this alliance with the Library is what I need to convince people to give us funding. Let’s see–I’ll call upon Terep Bindris again and I’ll take you two with me. He was kindly disposed toward me, at least at first. But how will he be able to resist us now?”

  The ground-car eventually came to a halt outside the Psychohistory Building at Streeling. The side panels slid open, but Seldon did not immediately move to disembark. He turned to face Wanda.

  “Wanda, you know what you and Stettin were able to accomplish with Acarnio; I’m sure you both can push some credits out of a few financial benefactors as well.

  “I know how you hate to leave your beloved Prime Radiant, but these visits will give you two a chance to practice, to hone your skills, to get an idea of just what you can do.”

  “All
right, Grandpa, although I’m sure that, now that you have the Library’s imprimatur, you will find that resistance to your requests has lessened.”

  “There’s another reason I think it’s important for the two of you to get out and around together.–Stettin, I believe you said that on certain occasions you’ve ‘felt’ another mind like yours but haven’t been able to identify it.”

  “Yes,” answered Palver, “I’ve had flashes, but each time I was in a crowd. And, in my twenty-four years, I can remember feeling such a flash just four or five times.”

  “But, Stettin,” said Seldon, his voice low with intensity, “each flash was, potentially, the mind of another person like you and Wanda–another mentalic. Wanda’s never felt these flashes because, frankly, she’s been sheltered all her life. The few times she’s been out in a crowd there must not have been any other mentalics around.

  “That’s one reason–perhaps the most important reason–for you two to get out–with me or without me. We must find other mentalics. The two of you alone are strong enough to push a single person. A large group of you, all pushing together, will have the power to move an Empire!”

  With that. Hari Seldon swung his legs around and hoisted himself out of the ground-car. As Wanda and Palver watched him limp up the pathway to the Psychohistory Building, they were only dimly aware of the enormous responsibility Seldon had just placed on their young shoulders.

  33.

  IT WAS MIDAFTERNOON and the Trantorian sun glinted on the metal skin covering the great planet. Hari Seldon stood at the edge of the Streeling University observation deck, attempting to shield his eyes from the harsh glare with his hand. It had been years since he’d been out from under the dome, save for his few visits to the Palace, and somehow those didn’t count; one was still very much enclosed on the Imperial grounds.

  Seldon no longer traveled around only if accompanied. In the first place, Palver spent the majority of his time with Wanda, either working on the Prime Radiant, absorbed in mentalic research, or searching for others like them. But if he had wanted, Seldon could have found another young man–a University student or a Project member–to act as his bodyguard.

  However, Seldon knew that a bodyguard was no longer necessary. Since the much publicized hearing and the reestablishment of ties with the Galactic Library, the Commission for Public Safety had taken a keen interest in Seldon. Seldon knew that he was being followed; he had caught sight of his “shadow” on a number of occasions in the past few months. He also had no doubt that his home and office had been infiltrated by listening devices, but he himself activated a static shield whenever he engaged in sensitive communications.

  Seldon was not sure what the Commission thought of him–perhaps they were not yet sure themselves. Regardless of whether they believed him to be a prophet or a crackpot, they made it their business to know where he was at all times–and that meant that, until the Commission deemed otherwise, at all times Seldon was safe.

  A light breeze billowed the deep blue cloak Seldon had draped over his unisuit and ruffed the few wispy white hairs remaining on his head. He glanced down over the railing, taking in the seamless steel blanket below. Beneath that blanket, Seldon knew, rumbled the machinery of a vastly complicated world. If the dome were transparent, one would see ground-cars racing, gravicabs swooshing through an intricate network of interconnecting tunnels, space hyperships being loaded and unloaded with grain and chemicals and jewels bound for and from practically every world of the Empire.

  Below the gleaming metal cover, the lives of forty billion people were being conducted, with all the attendant pain, joy, and drama of human life. It was an image he loved dearly–this panorama of human achievement–and it pierced his heart to know that, in just a few centuries, all that now lay before him would be in ruins. The great dome would be ripped and scarred, torn away to reveal the desolate wasteland of what was once the seat of a thriving civilization. He shook his head in sadness, for he knew there was nothing he could do to prevent that tragedy. But, as Seldon foresaw the ruined dome, he also knew that from the ground laid bare by the last battles of the Empire living shoots would spring and somehow Trantor would reemerge as a vital member of the new Empire. The Plan saw to that.

  Seldon lowered himself onto one of the benches ringing the deck’s perimeter. His leg was throbbing painfully; the exertion of the trip had been a bit much. But it had been worth it to gaze once again at Trantor, to feel the open air around him and see the vast sky above.

  Seldon thought wistfully of Wanda. He rarely saw his granddaughter at all anymore and invariably Stettin Palver was present when he did. In the three months since Wanda and Palver had met, they seemed to be inseparable. Wanda assured Seldon that the constant involvement was necessary for the Project, but Seldon suspected it went deeper than mere devotion to one’s job.

  He remembered the telltale signs from his early days with Dors. It was there in the way the two young people looked at each other, with an intensity born not only of intellectual stimulation but emotional motivation as well.

  Further, by their very natures, Wanda and Palver seemed to be more comfortable with each other than with other people. In fact, Seldon had discovered that when no one else was around, Wanda and Palver didn’t even talk to each other; their mentalic abilities were sufficiently advanced that they had no need of words to communicate.

  The other Project members were not aware of Wanda’s and Palver’s unique talents. Seldon had felt it best to keep the mentalics’ work quiet, at least until their role in the Plan was firmly defined. Actually the Plan itself was firmly defined–but solely in Seldon’s mind. As a few more pieces fell into place, he would reveal his Plan to Wanda and Palver and someday, of necessity, to one or two others.

  Seldon stood slowly, stiffly. He was due back at Streeling in an hour to meet Wanda and Palver. They had left word for him that they were bringing a great surprise. Another piece for the puzzle, Seldon hoped. He looked out one last time over Trantor and, before turning to make his way back to the gravitic repulsion elevator, smiled and softly said, “Foundation.”

  34.

  HARI SELDON ENTERED his office to find that Wanda and Palver had already arrived and were seated around the conference table at the far end of the room. As was usual with those two, the room was completely silent.

  Then Seldon stopped short, noticing that a new fellow was sitting with them. How strange–out of politeness, Wanda and Palver usually reverted to standard speech when in the company of other people, yet none of the three was speaking.

  Seldon studied the stranger–an odd-looking man, about thirty-five years old, with the myopic look of one caught up for too long in his studies. If it weren’t for a certain determined set to the stranger’s jaw, Seldon thought he might be dismissed as ineffectual, but that would obviously be a mistake. There was both strength and kindness in the man’s face. A trustworthy face, Seldon decided.

  “Grandfather,” Wanda said, rising gracefully from her chair. Seldon’s heart ached as he looked at his granddaughter. She’d changed so much in the past few months, since the loss of her family. Whereas before she had always called him Grandpa, now it was the more formal Grandfather. In the past it seemed she could barely refrain from grins and giggles; lately her serene gaze was lightened only occasionally by a beatific smile. But–now as always–she was beautiful and that beauty was surpassed only by her stunning intellect.

  “Wanda, Palver,” Seldon said, kissing the former on the cheek and slapping the latter on the shoulder.

  “Hello,” Seldon said, turning to the stranger, who had also stood. “I am Hari Seldon.”

  “I am most honored to meet you, Professor,” the man replied. “I am Bor Alurin.” Alurin offered a hand to Seldon in the archaic and, hence, most formal mode of greeting.

  “Bor is a psychologist, Hari,” said Palver, “and a great fan of your work.”

  “More important, Grandfather,” said Wanda, “Bor is one of us.”

 
; “One of you?” Seldon looked searchingly from one to the other. “Do you mean...?” Seldon’s eyes sparkled.

  “Yes, Grandfather. Yesterday Stettin and I were walking through Ery Sector, getting out and around, as you’d suggested, probing for others. All of a sudden–wham!–there it was.”

  “We recognized the thought patterns immediately and began to look around, trying to establish a link,” Palver said, taking up the story. “We were in a commercial area, near the spaceport, so the walkways were clogged with shoppers and tourists and Outworld traders. It seemed hopeless, but then Wanda simply stopped and signaled Come here and out of the crowd Bor appeared. He just walked up to us and signaled Yes?”

  “Amazing,” Seldon said, beaming at his granddaughter. “And Dr.–it is Doctor, isn’t it?–Alurin, what do you make of all this?”

  “Well,” began the psychologist thoughtfully, “I am pleased. I’ve always felt different somehow and now I know why. And if I can be of any help to you, why–” The psychologist looked down at his feet, as if all of a sudden he realized he was being presumptuous. “What I mean is, Wanda and Stettin said I may be able to contribute in some way to your Psychohistory Project. Professor, nothing would please me more.”

  “Yes yes. That’s quite true, Dr. Alurin. In fact, I think you may make a great contribution to the Project–if you’ll join me. Of course, you’ll have to give up whatever it is you do now, whether it is teaching or private practice. Can you manage that?”

  “Why, yes, Professor, of course. I may need a little help convincing my wife–” At this he chuckled slightly, glancing shyly at each of his three companions in turn. “But I seem to have a way with that.”

  “So it’s set, then,” said Seldon briskly. “You will join the Psychohistory Project. I promise you, Dr. Alurin, this is a decision you will not regret.”

  “Wanda, Stettin,” Seldon said later, after Bor Alurin had left. “This is a most welcome breakthrough. How quickly do you think you can find more mentalics?”